A Thousand Ways to Fall
by fbeauchamphartz
Summary: Sebastian is thinking about how the tables in his life have turned - how the real prize to be won at Dalton was Kurt and not Blaine, and how he wished he could get a second chance. When he finds out that Kurt and Blaine have broken up, will he be able to get that second chance? Kurt H. Sebastian S.


**A/N:** _Inspired by the Klaine Advent Drabble prompt 'fall'._

It had been months before Blaine's big, lavish proposal since Sebastian had seen Kurt, and many months after before he bumped into Kurt again, but there hadn't been a moment in between that he didn't think of Kurt at least once.

At first, Sebastian had been a sore loser, still plotting for ways to get rid of Kurt in his head, but time went by, and the allure of Blaine, whatever it had been, was lost beneath Sebastian's thoughts of Kurt – Kurt and his questionable fashion sense, Kurt and his sarcastic mouth, Kurt and his singing voice that kind of grew on him the more he listened to it, Kurt and the way his blue eyes flashed like lightning when they saw Sebastian (only out of habit, of course, since Sebastian had promised to change his ways and play nice). There were many men for Sebastian – he wasn't waiting on a block of ice just because he had suddenly started to see Kurt Hummel's appeal, but graduation approached, his acceptance to NYU came in, and he allowed himself room to hope.

Sebastian didn't envision them coming together like a black-and-white Bogart and Bacall movie, where they'd run into each other after years apart and realize they had always been meant to be. He pictured a reunion where they both walked into the same coffee shop at the same time and struck up a human conversation, with the drama of high school rivalries long behind them. That one coincidental conversation might lead to more coffee dates, possibly a lunch or two, and who knew? Maybe those baby steps could turn into something more.

There was, of course, the obstacle of the fiancé, but Sebastian would cross that bridge when he came to it.

On one serendipitous fall day, the stars seemed to align in Sebastian's favor. Thirty minutes after hearing from a friend back at Dalton that Kurt and Blaine had broken up weeks before, he ran into Kurt – a sniffling yet beautiful mess – at a SoHo deli. Sebastian was picking up a sandwich and Kurt was leaving with one. They bumped into each other, hands reaching for the door at the same time, and stopped, staring in surprise.

"Uh, Kurt?" Sebastian said, mouth dropped open as his face tried to decide between a smile and a smirk.

Sincerity didn't come easily to Sebastian, but he was trying.

Kurt blinked twice – once to clear the tears in his eyes and another time to regain his composure.

"Hey, Sebastian," Kurt said back, but not at all thrilled. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, well, I go to school out here," Sebastian said, moving away from the doorway so that Kurt could leave the deli. Sebastian hoped Kurt would let him walk with him, convince him to talk.

"That's right," Kurt said, stopping at the curb, at least sticking around for polite conversation. "Jeff told me about that."

"Great," Sebastian said, at a loss for anything else. He had to think of a way to get Kurt to stick around longer. Sebastian had been looking for a chance, and maybe now he had one. It might turn out to be his one and only. He couldn't waste it.

"You know," Kurt said, "I really should be getting going…"

Sebastian blocked his path, figuring the words he was looking for might just come to him if he opened his mouth and mindlessly started to speak.

It couldn't be any worse than what was happening right now.

"Look," Sebastian said, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened between you and Blaine." Kurt dropped his head, looking embarrassed and broken hearted, like the break between them still stung. "And I wanted you to know that…

_I've thought of you every day since I first met you, and maybe some of those days I hated you, but then I realized what a dumb-shit immature ass I was. I thought of you, and all the things I thought I didn't like about you were all the things I was looking for. Blaine wasn't the prize – you were. I should have given you a chance. I should have begged you to give me a chance. I have fallen for you in my mind a thousand times, and I was hoping you might give me the opportunity to show you that I'm worth knowing…that I'm worth falling for, too, so…_

…if you need anything, I'm here to talk…if you want, I mean." Sebastian swallowed lightly, wondering how much of what he really wanted to say had bled itself into the lame offer to talk that he had extended.

Kurt smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, didn't light up his face the way even his loathing, sarcastic smiles did.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, "I know you're trying to be nice, but…" Kurt sighed, shaking his head and backing away, "I don't seem to remember when you started caring."


End file.
